464 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



September 



this fire, and flumes were saved only by 

 arduous fighting. A fire in the moun- 

 tains near Caliente, 30 miles south of 

 Bakersfield, destroyed grass on ranges, 

 grain fields, and forest. It burned 

 many thousands of acres, and was 

 fought by train crews of the Southern 

 Pacific and Santa Fe companies, as well 

 as by paid fighters hurried to the scene 

 by the Kern County Land Company, 

 whose holdings were endangered. On 



August 9 it had burned three days, and 

 was not then under control. 



Canada. A message from White 

 Horse to Vancouver, dated August i, 

 said that a destructive brush fire in that 

 neighborhood had assumed serious pro- 

 portions along the line of the White 

 Pass and Yukon Railway. Every avail- 

 able man fought the fire until quelled, 

 though not until much damage had 

 been done. 



RECENT PUBLICATIONS. 



Any of these books will be sent by the publishers of "Forestry and Irrigation," postpaid, to any 

 address on receipt of the published price, with postage added when the price is marked "net." 



The Water Fowl Family. By LEONARD C. 

 SANEORD, L B. BISHOP, and T. S. VAN 

 DYKE 20 full-page illustrations. Pp. 

 598. The Macmillan Co., New York. 



This volume is the latest isstied as a part of 

 the American Sportman's Library under the 

 general editorial supervision of Caspar Whit- 

 ney. It contains fourteen chapters on the 

 shooting of ducks, geese, swans, and shore- 

 birds, by L. C Sanford. T. C. Van Dyke is 

 the author of the portion devoted to the water 

 fowl of the Pacific coast, while L. D. Bishop 

 supplies a detailed description .of each bird as 

 it is brought into prominence in the text. 



The entire volume is written in an enter- 

 taining style, the three authors collaborating, 

 being among the best of our sporting writers. 

 The subjects have been treated throughout in 

 a popular way, rendering the book not only 

 valuable as a sort of encyclopedia of the water 

 fowl family, but enjoyable reading for the 

 average sportsman. 



A valuable feature of the book is the large 

 number of excellent full-page drawings by 

 Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Charles Livingstone 

 Bull, and Martin Justice. Large clear type, 

 good paper, and attractive binding combine to 

 make it an excellent piece of book-making. 



The Improvement of Rivers. A Treatise on the 

 Methods Employed for Improving Streams, 

 for Open Navigation, and for Navigation 

 by Means of Locks and Dams. By B. F. 

 THOMAS and I). A. WATT. Pp. 356, quarto 

 size. Illustrated with 92 full-page and 

 folding plates. Price, $6.00 net ; postage, 

 47 cents. John Wiley &. Sons, New York. 



At this time of rapidly growing interest in 

 the use of our rivers for navigation, irrigation, 

 and the related problem of controlling flood 

 waters, this book is most timely. It is claimed 

 to be the first work of its kind printed in the 

 English language. 



The object of the book is to provide in con- 

 cise form a description of the various systems 



employed for bettering the conditions of navi 

 gable streams, together with the methods 

 usually adopted for their design and execution. 

 This branch of engineering is practically un- 

 taught in the engineering schools of the United 

 States, but the authors hope that the publica- 

 tion of this volume may have some effect in 

 calling attention to this defect, and perhaps 

 result in widening the scope of some of the 

 usual engineering courses, and thus prepare 

 students for the engineering service of the 

 government. 



The volume is divided into three parts : Part I 

 is devoted to general improvements of rivers ; 

 Part II, improvement of open rivers, and Part 

 III treats of the improvement of rivers by 

 canalization. Dikes, levees, storage reservoirs, 

 locks, canals, and the various kinds of dams 

 are all described at length The many excel- 

 lent illustrations and the fact that the book is 

 written in plain language, free from many of 

 the usual technical engineering terms, renders 

 it of value to the general reader as well as the 

 technically trained man. 



The Woodlot. By HENRY SOI.ON GRAVES, 

 Director of the Yale Forest School, and 

 R. T. FISHER, Bureau of Forestry. Pp. 90. 

 Illustrated by photographs and diagrams. 

 Bulletin 42 of the Bureau of Forestry, U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture. Washington : 

 Government Printing Office, 1903. 

 This bulletin is intended to be of value to 

 owners of woodlots, particularly in New Eng- 

 land, where the material for its preparation 

 was gathered. Its most interesting and unique 

 feature lies in the series of diagrams, where, 

 by outlines of trees and explanatory text, 

 improvement and reproduction cuttings are 

 graphically explained. With the aid of these, 

 any one who gives the bulletin a careful read- 

 ing should be able to make the most of the 

 possibilities of any given woodlot area. 



The first part of the bulletin explains fully 

 the meaning of improvement and reproduction 



